Thursday October 15, 2009
Serving San José State University since 1934
]SPORTS[
Volume 133, Issue 26
]OPINION [
Spartans head into Fresno for tough battle Page 4
]A & E[
Writer reveals results of distracted driving Page 5
Fall TV lineup is full of 'Glee' Page 6
Cuts lead to special education shortages By Jennifer Hadley Staff Writer
Rainstorm drowns out KSJS signal
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ewer students are going through SJSU’s special education department, resulting in fewer special education teachers to fill positions in school districts, said a special education official. This semester the special education department capped the number of students it accepted into its department, said Chris Hagie, the department chair of special education. “Ultimately, it means that fewer students will be able to go through our program,” Hagie said. “The districts still have openings right now in special ed. Here it is October, school started in August, and they weren’t able to fill all their special education teaching positions.” The special education department accepted 20 percent fewer students this semester and will not accept applications for the Spring 2010 semester, Hagie said. For the Spring 2009 semester, 25 credential students were admitted to the special education See EDUCATION, Page 2
By Regina Aquino Staff Writer
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[ John Sebastian Russo / Contributing Photographer ]
Courtney Ridings, a first year mild/moderate special education intern/graduate student, holds her group's learning techniques cards for special education children during their presentation in the Managing Behavior and Emotional Problems of Students class Thursday.
Loma Prieta earthquake remembrances hope to ready California for next big one
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Calvin Miles recounts the collapse of an apartment building wall on Third Street and San Fernando Street moments after the 7.0 earthquake on Oct. 17, 1989. By Minh Pham A&E Editor
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aturday will mark the 20th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake, a natural disaster that one geology professor said was a relatively lucky event. “There could have been so much more damage and injuries,” said geology Professor Ellen Metzger, who was on campus in Duncan Hall when the ’89 earthquake happened. “I was on the second floor, and the ground
shook so violently, anybody who wasn’t holding on to something fell to the ground,” Metzger said. “I had just moved from the East Coast, so it was the first earthquake I had ever felt. It was frightening.” SJSU’s campus received no major structural damages to any buildings, major injuries or deaths in the reported 7.0 magnitude quake, said Richard Sedlock, chair of the geology department. The majority of the damage occured in the San Francisco area about 60 miles from Loma
Prieta, he said. “I was five years old, and I remember being on the stairs when the earthquake happened,” senior biology major Diana Tran said. “San Francisco houses are usually small, and so everything in my house was stacked up high. I was lucky I was actually on the stairs, away from all the bookcases and dressers.” A staff member at the Student Services Center and alumna Angelica Ochoa said she See EARTHQUAKE, Page 2
theSpartanDaily.com Video
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• Does President Obama deserve the Nobel Peace Prize? Find out what students think
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Story • Gubernatorial hopeful Steve Poizner visits SJSU
Spartan Daily Blogs spartandailynews.wordpress.com
See KSJS, Page 2
Harvey Milk honored with his own day By Ryan Fernandez Staff Writer
[Spartan Daily Archives ]
he first rainstorm of the season has affected the KSJS antenna, causing the station to be temporarily off the air, a radio official said. The station was under normal operation until about 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, KSJS general manager Nick Martinez said. KSJS members monitor their transmitter readings every hour on a device inside the station, and they realized there was a problem when the wattage readings were lower than normal, Martinez said. “We weren’t able to remotely get the wattage back up, which means you have a problem not at the station, but you have a problem at the tower,” he said. “The tower is at Coyote Peak in south San Jose.” Alexandra King, a senior television, radio, film and theatre major also known as “AK47” and disc jockey of “The Second Amendment,” said the technical issues prevented her from playing music that does not get regular
lmost 31 years after his death, Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to a California public office, is getting a statewide day of recognition named in his honor. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 572 into law Sunday, establishing May 22, Harvey Milk’s birthday, as “Harvey Milk Day.” Sunday was also national coming out day, and marked the start of national coming out week. According to the text of SB 572, authored by California Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, Milk is the second person in California history to have a special day of recognition named for him — the other person is conservationist John Muir. Jeff Lind, communications officer for the campus group Queers Thoughtfully Interrupting Prejudice, said Milk was an icon of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. He said his organization thinks the bill’s signing is a great step forward for civil rights in California. “We at Q-TIP are very excited about the governor’s decision to sign Harvey Milk Day into law,” said Lind, a senior double major in sociology and behavioral science.
“We applaud the governor for making that decision.” “It’s about damn time,” said Mallory Vieira, Q-TIP secretary and a senior social science major. Bonnie Sugiyama, assistant director of the LGBT Resource Center, said she agreed it was time Milk received public recognition for his work. She said a similar bill honoring Milk was on the governor’s desk in 2008 and was vetoed, referring to Assembly Bill 2567, also authored by Leno. In his veto message, the governor stated, “I believe his contributions should continue to be recognized at the local level by those who were most impacted by his contributions.” Mitchell Colbert, a senior political science major, said Harvey Milk’s death was a tragedy, and it was nice for him to get some public recognition. “Harvey Milk is a local civil rights hero and a hero in the LGBT community,” he said. “It’s good he’s finally getting the recognition he deserves.” Personal counselor Wiggsy Sivertson said she was thrilled to see Milk honored in such a way. She said she worked with Milk in the 1970s to defeat CaliforSee MILK, Page 2
The Spartan Daily will not be printing on the following days:
Oct. 19, 20
• Read about Target's new designer Rodarte
Libra
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SA A 77
SU U 74
• Look for live feeds of the SJSU football team playing against Fresno State on Saturday
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Our next issue will hit the stands
Wednesday, Oct. 21